Spooky in Love Episodes 7-8 Recap: The Pendant and the Proposal

The sweetest two episodes yet — plus the pendant, and what Min hwan isn’t saying. Full spoilers.

⚠️ Spoilers for Episodes 7-8.

Episodes 7 and 8 are the sweetest stretch this drama has offered. An engagement that started as a contract turns into something real, and a grievance three hundred years old finally gets resolved. Meanwhile, the cards Min hwan is holding start slipping into view.

The Engagement Announcement, and the Grandmother’s Test

Yeo ri announces her engagement to Gang uk to escape a cornered moment, then barely survives the wave of skeptical questions that follows.

Her grandmother pulls the two of them aside to ask whether it’s real. Gang uk answers that he likes Yeo ri. The reply catches her off guard.

At that exact moment, a call comes in from the Yeeon Foundation’s chairwoman. Something has turned up beneath the camellia tree.

What Min hwan Knows

A brief flashback fills in Min hwan’s position. He introduced a major business deal to Cha Gi u, the lawyer who called off his engagement to Yeo ri, on the condition that the real reason for the breakup stays between the two of them.

Min hwan already knows. Take Yeo ri’s hand, and the ghosts come with it.

The Coffin Opens, and a 300-Year Wait Ends

Beneath the camellia tree at the Yeeon Museum of Art, a coffin finally surfaces. Yeo ri and Gang uk arrive with officials from the Korea Heritage Service.

As it opens, a spirit lifts away like a butterfly. In the distance, Do won and Hwa gyeong dang offer their thanks and disappear.

The museum director calls it a love story with Prince Gangpyeong and announces plans to bury the two of them together. Yeo ri produces the other half of the letter, marked with Do won’s signature and seal. It was never addressed to the prince. It was written to the painter.

If the director goes ahead with a joint burial, Yeo ri says, she’ll make the letter public. Hwa gyeong dang’s remains should go to the state. The director gives in.

Then the director asks why a woman dead three centuries matters this much to her.

Yeo ri’s answer: “Because life deserves respect, and there will always be victims no one hears.”

“We Solved a 300-Year-Old Injustice”

Alone afterward, Gang uk says it plainly. If they can resolve something from three hundred years ago, they can resolve what happened to Yeo ri too. Maybe even the thing from twelve years ago, if they work at it.

A Background Check, and Yeo ri Climbing a Wall

Yeo ri’s grandmother starts digging into Gang uk. Elite career track, solid record — and a heart surgery in his past. It’s a significant piece of setup.

Meanwhile, both of them are under suspicion at work. Gang uk’s colleagues replay all the bickering they’ve witnessed and ask whether these two were really dating. Yeo ri’s staff press her about whether the relationship is fake. When Gang uk’s number lights up her phone, Yeo ri answers with a sugary “honey” and slips out of the office.

Except it isn’t Gang uk calling. It’s his colleague, Investigator Go Pil dong, reporting that her “honey” is thoroughly drunk and needs a ride home.

Arriving at Gang uk’s place without a key, Yeo ri climbs over the wall — and comes face to face with his grandmother. For a second she thinks it’s a ghost. It isn’t.

Investigator Go reads the room and vanishes. The interrogation begins. After establishing that Yeo ri is dating her grandson, the older woman goes straight to the question that matters: “What year were you born?”

Gang uk comes flying out of the house. There is no world in which he lets her say “black monkey.”

Cheon Gallery’s Books Don’t Add Up

The audit Yeo ri ordered on Reina’s art holdings comes back. A significant portion of the works purchased through Cheon Gallery were valued well above what the artists actually sold them for. On top of that, Dong jun personally borrowed roughly 50 billion won using Reina-owned art as collateral.

Ok Gye hui, meanwhile, is working hard to secure control of the Reina Group. She reminds Director Gong how the stock wobbled after the broken engagement, and pushes the rumor that CEO Cheon Yeo ri sees ghosts and consults shamans — framing Yeo ri herself as a risk to the company.

Min hwan Makes His Move

Min hwan meets with Gang uk’s superior, the chief prosecutor. Having witnessed the meeting, Gang uk confronts him, and Min hwan tells him to call off the engagement. Gang uk bristles. Min hwan studies Gang uk’s personal file. Something is coming.

Elsewhere, Yeo ri notices something wrong with a flower delivery from Sio Flower, a longtime supplier to Reina Hotel — and then sees Sio’s ghost.

Sio’s twin brother had been running scams using his brother’s name. When Sio refused to lend him a large sum, a struggle broke out, and Sio died.

Yeo ri goes looking for Sio’s body with Ha ri following behind her. Just as Yeo ri is about to be caught at the site, Gang uk arrives and hides her.

Episode 8 — Ha ri’s Photo, and the Grandmother’s Decision

Thanks to Gang uk, Ha ri misses the decisive moment. She does, however, get a photo placing Yeo ri near the scene.

Ok Gye hui briefs Director Gong on Yeo ri’s situation and asks for support in calling an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. Ha ri presses the case in front of Yeo ri and the grandmother, insisting Yeo ri definitely sees ghosts — but the grandmother takes Yeo ri’s side. After sending Ha ri out of the room, she orders the engagement date set immediately.

Siena Hall — What Yeo ri Wants to Protect

Yeo ri and Gang uk meet at Siena Hall, named after the place her parents first met. It’s also where her first engagement fell apart.

She tells him she wants to protect this place. Gang uk says he’ll help her protect it. When she says they need to go through with the engagement, his answer is that he’s glad — because what he feels for her is real.

A Fake Birth Chart Clears the Last Obstacle

Gang uk tells his grandmother about the engagement, and she turns out to be the real obstacle. She will not accept a marriage to a woman born in the year of the black monkey.

So Gang uk gets a colleague’s birth details and passes those along instead. His grandmother takes the fake chart to a fortune teller and comes back satisfied: excellent compatibility.

The Family Meeting, and an Acupuncture Proposal

The two grandmothers arrange a formal meeting between the families. Running into each other before the appointed time, they compare notes — Yeo ri’s grandmother wants a son-in-law who’ll join her household, Gang uk’s wants a daughter-in-law devoted to supporting her husband.

At the actual meeting, they trade competitive boasts about their grandchildren until Yeo ri and Gang uk scramble to smooth things over.

Afterward, the two plan a date. Yeo ri, having heard talk about pre-engagement proposal rings, is thoroughly excited. On a street lined with cherry blossoms, Gang uk opens the ring box.

Inside are acupuncture needles. The needle case and the ring box looked identical, and they got mixed up in the car. Yeo ri flees in embarrassment. Gang uk can’t salvage it.

Min hwan Escalates

Gang uk’s grandmother calls Min hwan’s mother to share the engagement news and extend an invitation. Ji hwan was Min hwan’s late brother — he went into the water with Yeo ri, and only Yeo ri came out.

Gang uk is invited to lunch by prosecutor colleagues who married into wealth. When the conversation turns to corruption of every variety, he excuses himself. That lunch was Min hwan’s setup too. The group suggests to Min hwan that Gang uk be transferred to another region.

Min hwan also summons Director Gong, who isn’t in a position to refuse given his loan problems.

Meanwhile, Yeo ri’s grandmother is hospitalized again. She wants the engagement held and the wedding to follow as fast as possible — so she can transfer her shares to her grandson-in-law immediately afterward. The stock is moving, and there are signs of an extraordinary meeting being called to remove Yeo ri.

Twelve Years Ago, on the Yacht

With the engagement approaching, Min hwan and Ji hwan’s mother flies in from the United States.

Her memory fills in what happened. Ji hwan always wore a pendant his grandmother gave him. On the day of the accident, he put it around Yeo ri’s neck for a moment. Then the accident happened. Ji hwan died. Yeo ri lived.

That pendant is now in Min hwan’s possession.

A Stopped Elevator, and the Real Proposal

On the day of the engagement, clear skies turn to rain and Gang uk runs late. Yeo ri’s anxiety builds, sharpened by the memory of her first failed engagement.

The elevator Gang uk steps into is the same one where Cha Gi u saw a ghost and walked away from their engagement.

Min hwan was there that day. He heard exactly what Gi u said: one touch of her hand, and a ghost followed him home. Min hwan knows, and still tells Yeo ri he’ll marry her. His hand, he says, is safe to hold.

Yeo ri walks past him toward the elevator Gang uk is in. It stops, and the entire hotel goes dark. Frozen by the memory, Yeo ri is found by Gang uk, who leads her out to the balcony.

There, he gives her the ring. Yeo ri admits what she was actually afraid of — that he wouldn’t come, that she’d never see him again. Gang uk tells her he’ll be beside her wherever she is.

Then Yeo ri says it first. She wants this engagement to be real. She asks him to make it real with her.

Gang uk answers with a kiss.

Chaebols and Shamanism — And Why I Keep Watching Anyway

I’ll be honest: I don’t much care for chaebol stories or shamanism. Korea has so many chaebol dramas that I sometimes think they end up glamorizing the people they’re supposedly critiquing. Shamanism bothers me more. The idea that a person’s fate is determined by the date and hour of their birth — how strange is that? Does everyone born at the same moment live the same life?

This drama leans hard on both.

I keep watching anyway, and the reason is Park Eun bin. She delivers lines that should be excruciating and makes them land clean. That’s a real skill. Yang Se jong’s chemistry with her deserves credit too.

Korean Weddings Come With a Lot of Events

In Korea, the wedding itself is often the simplest part. What surrounds it is where the events pile up.

The couple visits both sets of parents to ask permission. Then comes the sanggyeonrye (상견례), the formal meeting between families. Then booking the venue, then a full wedding photoshoot, and depending on the family, an engagement ceremony or a traditional pyebaek (폐백) ritual afterward.

Get through all of it once and you start thinking, how would anyone do this a second time?

Watching this drama work through those milestones one by one — the grandmothers sizing each other up, the proposal ring that isn’t a ring — is a real part of its charm.

The Pendant and the Heart Transplant — Is This Really a Twist?

Ji hwan’s pendant is in Min hwan’s hands. Gang uk received a heart transplant twelve years ago. Line those two facts up and the answer is obvious.

Judging by viewer reactions, I wasn’t the only one thinking the same thing: is this seriously supposed to be the mystery? The answer is too clearly signposted to feel like a reveal.

Unless there’s a sharper layer of setup underneath this one, a lot of viewers are going to be disappointed when the show finally plays it.

Basic Info

Video: Episode 8 Highlights / Source: tvN DRAMA (YouTube)

English Title: Spooky in Love
Korean Title: 오싹한 연애
Based on: the 2011 film Spellbound, directed by Hwang In-ho
Premiere: July 18, 2026
Network: tvN (Saturdays & Sundays, 21:10 KST)
Streaming: Netflix
Episodes: 12
Director: Lee Min-soo
Writer: Choi Jung-mi
Cast: Park Eun bin (Cheon Yeo ri), Yang Se jong (Ma Gang uk), Ong Seong wu (Kang Min hwan), Jo Hye joo (Cheon Ha ri), Gil Hae yeon (Lee Hwa yong)